How To Rewire Your Brain For Better Habits

Transcript

Welcome To Wisdom Wellness Wednesday

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Oh chicka wow wow What's up party people? Welcome to another episode of LQate Your Life. I am your hostess with the mouse test. L as in the letter L and key as in the key to your heart. Well, welcome to Wisdom Wellness Wednesday. If you are a first-time listener, thank you for tuning in and joining LQate Your Life. On Mondays, we talk about mindful Mondays and tips that are in line with being mindful. And on Wednesdays, we talk about wisdom wellness Wednesdays, where I try to provide you wisdom and wellness tips.

SPEAKER_00 0:58

And today I want to talk about neuroplasticity. So um I will be quoting Dr.

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Tracy Marks, and I've been very interested in this lately because I myself am trying to create new habits, new neural pathways.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

As well as convince my 62-year-old husband about how you can create new neural pathways. You know, I'm sure you've heard of the saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Um while some of you may say yeah, I agree with that, but it's not necessarily true. Allow me to elaborate. Well, what if I told you? It has to do with neuroplasticity. Basically, the key to unlocking how we do things, I think it has to do with neuroplasticity. Sorry guys, I'm having to take drinks in between.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

As all of you know, not only do I have an autoimmune disease that called oral lycanus that often affects my mouth, my speaking, um, my speech, but also this year, worst year of allergies.

SPEAKER_00 3:36

So I appreciate your patience. So I've been wanting to talk about neuroplasticity.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

Basically, I want to take a deep dive on it because um, so when this first kind of came up, was actually in therapy for my husband and I. We are in couples counseling and um we were discussing um, well, I'm gonna throw my husband under the bus for a minute. We were discussing how my husband is addicted to being on his phone. As several of you would say, we're well, aren't we all? And the answer is no, we're not. Not all of us are addicted to doom scrolling, while the younger generation lives on their phone and spends a lot of time on their phone, and then there are those people that use their phone for resources to look up things. There are some of us that have healthy habits of using our phone, using it wisely, setting timers, etc. And so what we ended up discussing is that um his memory is not what it used to be. And the doctor was saying, well, for those of you that doom scroll, it causes shorter neural pathways. And in order to recreate new neural pathways, you have to basically retrain your brain. So her suggestion was, you know, instead of having access to your phone 24-7, go put it on the charger, put it away from you so you don't doom scroll. So there you go.

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So what is neuroplasticity? What it is, it is your brain's way of creating neuropaths to go throughout your life.

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For example, let's say you are walking through a forest and you take the same path every day, your brain will adapt to that neural pathway, right? For example, I take the same way to work every day.

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Therefore, my brain has created those neural pathways. Here's the cool thing about this.

Two Types Of Brain Plasticity

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Once you've created those neural pathways, yes, they have become familiar and they have become regular neural pathways, just like how you walk on the same path every day, you create a path, right? That's what happens to your brain. The good news is you always have the ability to create new neural pathways for learning, adapting, and changing. The reason I found this so interesting and why I'm reading more about it is learning about how once upon a time scientists thought that we had fixed brain patterns, right? But then they discovered that we have the ability to change. So recovering from trauma or brain energy, sorry, brain damage. Um we have the ability to change the pathways. For example, if we have a habit of thinking negatively, we have the ability to change those thought patterns and those neural pathways into positive. So there are two types of neuroplasticity. Structural plasticity. This involves changes to the brain's physical structure, such as the growth of new neurons or the formation of new synapses, and then there's functional plasticity. This refers to the brain's ability to move functions from a damaged area to other undamaged areas. Neuroplasticity gives you the power to influence your brain structure. This is pretty cool. The more I dive, the more I want to share. So neuroplasticity gives you the power to influence your brain structure and function through your experiences and behaviors. Neuroplasticity does work both ways. So negative thinking behaviors also reinforce certain pathways in the brain. However, when you start replacing those negative habits with positive ones, new pathways begin to take over, helping you become more mentally strong and adaptable.

SPEAKER_00 9:22

So, what do I mean by this?

SPEAKER_01 9:26

So, to understand how neuroplasticity works, um, let me just break it down the basics of the brain structure. Your brain consists of billions of neurons, which are cells responsible for processing and transmitting information. Okay. These neurons or nerve cells communicate with each other through connections. So when you learn something new or you have a novel experience, your neurons form new connections. Or they might even strengthen the existing ones. This process is called synaptic plasticity. The more you repeat an action or a thought, the stronger the neural pathways become. Several key brain regions are involved in neuroplasticity. The hippocampus, which is important for memory formation, and spatial orientation, which is the ability for you to be able to tell your body like how your body's positioned in space. And then there's the amygdala, which is involved in emotional processing and fear responses. And then there's the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for higher order thinking and decision making.

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These areas work together to process new information.

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Also to form new memories, adapt to changing environments.

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That's basically how neuroplasticity works.

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This is why it's important for building mental strength and resilience. It impacts four main areas of functioning. Number one, adaptability. Neuroplasticity allows your brain to adapt to new situations and challenges. And this flexibility is the basis for being able to navigate the ups and downs and develop resilience. In my case, I can use the example of having to live in chronic pain because I suddenly was hit with an autoimmune disease. Well, I had to create new neural pathways, right? Second is learning and memory. When you have new experiences, form new neural connections, you're able to learn new skills and retain information. You are able to learn, and that boosts your confidence and your problem-solving abilities so that you can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks, like what I was saying earlier. Third impact of neuroplasticity is overcoming negative patterns. Hmm, this one goes out to you, mister. Neuroplasticity empowers you to change negative thought patterns and behaviors. You can consciously and intentionally create new neural pathways and up-level poor coping skills and reshape how you respond to stress and adversity. I'll give you guys a great example of this. Oh my God, I woke up late. Now I'm going to have a terrible day at work. I'm going to be late for work. It's going to make me late for all my clients. They're going to be so upset. Oh my God, it's going to be a terrible day.

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You have just told your brain how to cope instead of creating new neural pathways of positivity and good things, right? Positive things.

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The fourth impact is recovery and healing. Neuroplasticity plays a vital role in recovery from brain injuries, managing mental health conditions.

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It basically offers you hope for healing and improving even in challenging circumstances.

What Affects Plasticity At Any Age

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Let's think about people that have strokes and have to relearn how to walk and talk and, you know, use their extremities. One of my listeners, loyal listeners, Roger Havens, perfect example, he had to relearn all these things. Several factors can impact your brain's plasticity. There's your age. Even though neuroplasticity occurs throughout life, it tends to be more pronounced in younger brains. But that said, even older adults can benefit from activities that promote plasticity. A rich, stimulating environment promotes neuroplasticity. This includes engaging in new experiences, learning new skills, exposing yourself to diverse sensory inputs. This is totally me, guys. So I'm one of those people that if I can't remember an actor's name or a place or a street or whatever, instead of Googling it or looking it up, I use my brain, which is a muscle, to try and go into my so-called Spongebob brain files, as I like to call them, to look for that information. And so you are actually exercising that muscle and challenging yourself to go and find the information instead of relying on an outside source. The interplay between neuroplasticity and sensory input is one of the reasons hearing loss, vision loss, social isolation can be so harmful to your mental functions. Kind of like what I was just talking about earlier, right? And then there's lifestyle factors. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, all of those play critical roles in supporting neuroplasticity. Obviously, a quality sleep is going to help consolidate memories, right? And a balanced diet with minimal processed foods provides nutrients for brain health. And then there's regular exercise, which increases blood flow to the brain and promotes the growth of new neurons.

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So if you think about it, that's a lot on neuroplasticity, right?

Practical Strategies And Mindfulness

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Now let's think about some practical strategies to harness the power of neuroplasticity and build mental strength. I'm going to give you three examples, three strategies. One is what I previously mentioned: learning a new skill, challenging your brain with new activities. That is going to stimulate the formation of new neural connections. This could be anything. Oh my gosh, and this totally applies to me. Learning something like a musical instrument or picking up a new language or trying a new hobby. Trying to brush up on my Spanish at school and constantly reading and researching for my podcast so that I have information that backs up what I talk about. And because of my autoimmune disease and taking care of my body and being more mindful of my sleep and my nutrition, I also started going to the gym. Second strategy is metacognition, mindfulness. Metacognition is thinking about thinking. Try and say that three times fast, right? It's a powerful tool for enhancing neuroplasticity and building mental strength. It involves becoming aware of your thought. Sorry, I keep getting tongue twisted. Becoming aware of your thought processes and learning to regulate them effectively. And you're wondering, okay, how do I do that? How do I practice metacognition? One can be self-reflection. Regularly take time to examine your thoughts and reactions and ask yourself, why did I respond that way? Or what assumptions am I making? Another great one is thought journaling. Write down your thoughts and analyze them objectively. Look for patterns or cognitive distortions. Then engage in mindful meditation. I have to tell you, I am constantly one to self-reflect and think about why did I respond that way? Why did I do this? Um, you know, how can I be better, etc. And then mindful meditation, always trying to practice that. And this practice helps you observe your thoughts without judgment, increasing metacognitive awareness. And by developing these metacognitive skills, you can identify and challenge unhelpful thought patterns, improve your decision-making process, enhance your emotional regulation, and boost your learning and problem-solving abilities. So, me, I'm one of those people, I always try to think outside of the box. Uh if I'm not sure of my decision making, I think about why I am not sure about this decision. And then I tell myself, oh, you should always trust your first instinct. Your first instinct is usually right.

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Things like that.

Closing Thoughts And Listener Requests

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So I hope that gave you some good insight as to neuroplasticity and how it works. Combining metacognition with mindfulness creates an effective synergy for rewiring your brain and building resilience. So I hope you all learned something today about neuroplasticity and how you do have the ability to change your neural pathways and change that stinking thinking into more positive thinking. And not think that that accident on the freeway is going to cause you to be late and have a terrible day. Um, I hope this was helpful. I hope you learned something. I hope it resonated with you. If it did, please remember to like the podcast after you've listened to it. Just click on that thumbs up button. Remember to comment on what your thoughts or your feedback or your insight would be. And feel free to share with somebody that you think that could benefit from this information. It's always a wonderful treat for me to hear everyone's thoughts, opinions. Feedback, how I can be better and more helpful to you. I am here for you. Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for listening. Thank you to my loyal subscribers, Creative Cara, lovemyartist.com or Linktree, Love My Artist. Angie Germer, thank you for being a loyal listener and subscriber. Lisa Roberts Corbello, thank you for being a loyal listener and subscriber. Mike Kaufman, thank you for being a loyal listener and subscriber. Jeff Pada, Namaste, appreciate you. And Roger Havens, I will look forward to your feedback and commentary on this one. I'm sure you'll have some insightful information. Until next time, thanks for tuning in. Ciao for now.